Wingclan Challenge Collection
by Stealthbreeze
Summary: This is just where I am going to put all the writing challenges I do from Wingclan. Rating for T just in case.
1. The Curiosity That Killed

This is a writing challenge [Challenge # 1] from Wingclan that I decided to try.

_Prompt:__ You were walking along in the forest, just a normal loner, minding your own business. Suddenly, you hear a rustle in the bushes. Out of curiosity, you decided to investigate. To your utmost horror, there was a dead cat lying there. What happens next?_

_Word Limit:__ Hmmm...how about __600__ a minimum of 500 words?_

_Total Word Count:__ 1,386_

**The Curiosity That Killed**

The cold leafbare sun shone over the forest of leafless trees, their branches clawing angrily towards the sky and swaying with the slight breeze. In the distance, a cluster of clouds was growing nearer, an ominous forewarning of the oncoming storm. In the branches of one of the oaks, a tom crouched, keen eyes focused on how the ground gave way into a valley-like area, which seemed to be the center of the scents of many cats. The grey tabby made a note of where the territories seemed to end, reminding himself to keep well away from the border. Clan cats were very protective of their territories. The scar over his nose was a reminder of that. A large tom like himself was seen as a threat no matter how harmless he told them he was. He dropped to the ground, the grass crunching under his paws. A small layer of frost had collected on the grass below him, so thin that it broke in clusters beneath his paws with his every step.

Grateful for the fact that the bushes provided some protection from the icy breeze, Hail began his journey around the outer layer of the clan's territory. After a few minutes of walking, he found himself at the border to one of the territories, and decided to walk along this instead of guessing at the rim of the territories. He shivered from the cold, hoping he would be able to outrun the storm or at least find a place to stay by the time it released its fury upon the land.

The large tom was about to pick up into a run when he suddenly heard a rustling in the brush to his right. He stopped, peering into the territory and lifting his nose to the air. It wasn't prey. Well aware that the storm was steadily catching up with him, he still felt intensely curious.

"Hello?" He called into the silence of the forest with no reply. The rustling did not come again. Although everything told him to leave it alone, the noise intrigued him. It was not prey. No one had called back when he asked. He somehow convinced himself that there was no harm in trespassing in the slightest to see what he had heard. He moved silently into the territory, glancing around but not seeing any other cats.

He padded cautiously to the bush where the noise had come from, his eyes searching for movement among the plant. He thought he could see something there, something brown. He moved into full view of the object of interest, and a wave of nausea washed over him. There lay a brown she-cat, her innocent blue eyes wide open in terror. Her mouth hung slack, and a wide gash ran across her neck. The frozen grass where she lay was red with her blood.

He shakily approached the she-cat, the reek of death all about her. He sniffed at her wounds, accidentally getting some of her blood on his muzzle. Horrified, Hail took a few steps back, looking frantically around. What had killed this cat? What… or who… The gash in her neck was fresh. Her death was recent. And dead cats didn't make bushes rustle.

Even as he thought this, a voice sounded from behind the large grey tabby. "Hey!" He whirled around to see an orange tom being joined by two other cats. All three of them suddenly caught sight of the she-cat and the blood on his muzzle.

One gasped, while the fiery tom let out a heartbroken shout. "Dawnheart!" Their features contorted into anger, and he immediately knew what they thought. They unsheathed their claws and the first moved to attack him.

"This isn't what you think!" He hissed as the orange charged him. This did nothing to stop him.

"You killed her!" The clancat's enraged voice roared as he leapt at the grey tabby. Seconds later, he was joined by the other two cats as they began their assault on Hail. Many moons of defending himself gave him the upper paw in most battles, but against three well trained warriors, he knew he stood no chance. He fought them off as best as he could, and moved a couple more steps closer to the border as he did, until he was out of their territory again. Breathing hard, he turned and ran. While he could hear two of the cats stop at the border, he looked behind him to see that the ginger pelted tom was still on his heels.

Turning quickly around, Hail roared, "I didn't do it! I found her like that!"

"Liar!" Without missing a beat, the tom barreled into him, rolling the two along the icy grass and even further away from the territory. The toms wrestled each other, but Hail was stronger. He pinned the clancat and held him there.

"On my honor, I found her like that!" He shouted into the tom's face. "Please, you have to believe me!"

With a powerful swipe, the russet tom knocked Hail's leg out from under him, and they both got up, facing each other with their teeth bared and claws unsheathed.

"Please – I didn't kill her. The blood on my muzzle – it's from checking her wounds. I heard something in your territory and thought I should see what it was… It was another cat that did it."

Fast as lightning, the orange tom rushed up a tree, but halfway up, he turned, pushed off of the tree and landed on top of Hail, his momentum knocking the larger cat to the ground. The grey tabby felt the air rush out of him, rendering him unable of any sound or movement for a few seconds. The orange tom pressed his claws into Hail's neck. He gave a quick glance around, and Hail did as well. They were out of hearing range of the other cats. Noting this, the heartbroken anger suddenly faded from the orange tom's features, as if he had suddenly become an entirely different cat. A wicked look came to his eyes, and with one paw, he kept the tom pinned, and the other he raised into the air, claws unsheathed.

"I believe you." The tom said simply. He did not lower his paw, and his claws remain unsheathed.

"Y-you do?" Hail asked, skeptical of the tom's sudden personality change.

The fiery tom nodded. "I do."

"Then let me go." Hail growled… but then he looked up to the upraised paw, and he thought of the dead she-cat. Her neck was slit... "It… you. It was you!"

The fiery tom gave a low, menacing chuckle. "Clever tom, aren't you? Unfortunately for you… my clan back there can't know that. As far as they are concerned, my mate was killed by a loner who soon paid for his actions… and I can't let them think any different." He features contorted into a snarl, lip pulling back to reveal all of his stained teeth and nose crinkling at the ridge. And then his claws came down, ripping open a wide gash in Hail's neck.

The loner went to yowl with pain, but no sound came from him as his lifeblood began to pool beneath him in the icy grass. The tom's weight moved off and away from him, and Hail's strength drained, causing him to roll to one side. He felt his toes go numb, then his legs, then the rest of his body. His vision of the icy grass around him slowly faded to black. The last thing he heard before his hearing faded was the tom's voice as he spat, "Send my regards to 'Starclan'."

And in his final moments, as he slipped out of his body and into the unknown, there was only one thing he could be sure of:

His curiosity had killed him.


	2. Ambition

This is a writing challenge [Challenge # 2] from Wingclan that I decided to take on. It took a LOT longer than I thought it would.

Prompt:This one is going to be simple.

_It must include romance._

_It must include death._

_And a butterfly._

Yes, I know, this is the common romance tragedy. BUT you can add your own twist to it. excited to see what you guys come up with!

Word Limit: 700 A minimum of 550 words.

Total Word Count: 2,708

**Ambition**

A warm Greenleaf breeze gently brushed through the trees, rustling the leaves ever so slightly as it did. The forest was full of sounds like it had never been, and even the colors of the grass and trees and dark blue sky seemed richer, crisper. Under a sky full of stars, the normally unbroken canopy of leaves gave way to a small meadow in which two cats lay, gazing skyward at the brilliant array of lights they knew as silverpelt.

Silvertail closed her eyes for a few precious moments, seizing a brief few seconds to take in all the scents around her. There was the aroma of the new grass and leaves, the scents of prey all around with no foxes, badgers, or other cats about, and finally, most important of all, Brackenstar's comforting smell next to her.

As she opened her eyes, she let them drift over to the solid brown tom, whose bright green eyes traced their way down from the stars and over to her. Just from that look, she could see it in his eyes that she meant the world to him, and her own deep blues brightened in response.

It hadn't always been like this – the warm sense of love that she'd found with him. When it had first started, well, things had been very different. She could never have imagined herself actually ending up there in the meadow with him, feeling as if that moment with him could last forever.

The silver she-cat snuggled closer to Brackenstar, sure that she'd never seen the world as beautiful as it was now.

After a few seconds, she heard his voice next to her, his strong, comforting voice taking on an uncharacteristic whisper. "Silvertail?" The she-cat looked at him expectantly, wondering if something was troubling him. His gaze turned to the stars as he asked, "When are we going to tell the rest of the clan about this? About us? We can't just live our lives like this, sneaking out in the dead of night."

"I know…" Silvertail replied before growing silent for a few seconds. After working up her courage, she simply stated, "I don't know, Brackenstar… I just… I haven't found the right time yet… I… you know what I mean, right?"

After a tense pause, he only said, "Don't worry Silvertail."

The she-cat snuggled closer to him. "It's not that I feel uncomfortable about it or anything…"

He gave a warmhearted chuckle, "You always did enjoy stealing away in the night. Always off on some adventure when you and I were apprentices."

She chuckled back at him, but the laughter soon died out.

In a small whisper, Silvertail said, "I do love you, you know."

"I know." He gave her a quick lick on the nose. "I love you too."

They stayed out for as long as they dared, sneaking back into camp just before moonhigh. Separating with nothing more than a longing, parting glance, they retired to their respective dens. Silvertail carefully stepped over her denmate's sleeping forms, sinking into her own nest, wondering if she would ever feel ready to tell everyone her feelings for Brackenstar. After how it had started for her, she wasn't sure it was right to make it official. Frowning slightly to herself, she rested her head, closed her eyes, and soon enough, she fell asleep.

A few moons later, Silvertail watched the sun sink below the mountains and the moon begin to rise. As cats began to retire to their respective dens, she looked to the leader's hollow, a large hole in the side of the mountain that provided a perfect place to house the most important cat in the clan.

Inside the darkness of the den, she could just barely see a pair of eyes, and beyond them, Brackenstar's face.

She twitched her tail, using it to point up at the stars. He nodded, but Silvertail could see just by his expression that his usual cheeriness about stargazing was not with him this night.

Once no cats (except the night watch) were awake, they snuck out of camp, and soon were walking along the border, a familiar route to both of them, as they had both traversed this area many times together in the last few moons. Silvertail glanced over at Brackenstar many times, but he only stared straight forward. As they passed the gorge – one of the main markers of their eastern border, Silvertail quietly asked, "Brackenstar, is something wrong?"

He slowed, and then stopped, causing her to slow to a stop as well. He only stared at her in silence for a few seconds before he finally spoke. "Silvertail, I heard someone say something about you."

Concern crossed her face as Silvertail asked, "What do you mean by that?"

The leader couldn't meet her gaze for a few seconds, eyes wandering to the stars, to his paws, then finally locking with hers, "Someone told me… someone told me you were only pretending to like me because you wanted to be leader."

Apprehension hit her like a badger strike. Who could've known her original intentions? And who would have come forward now? Things were different now. "Who would spread such a lie?!" She demanded. "I would never use you like that."

"It wasn't just one cat…. It was a lot of different cats…" The betrayed glint in his eyes burned through her heart, but she still looked into his eyes. She didn't dare look away, for fear her pleading gaze would be taken as her trying to trick him. His gaze hardened as he growled, "Silvertail, is it true?"

"No! Of course not!" Silvertail's eyes pleaded him to let the issue go. She knew it had been that way at first, but it was different now. For the thousandth time, it was different now. She loved him now.

"It's just that… You never took an interest in me until I became the deputy. And you never wanted anyone to know about us – as if you didn't want anyone to think you loved me." There was a silence, and Silvertail gave a small, defeated sigh, unable to meet his gaze. She would have to tell him. It was the only way he would understand. But before she could say anything, Brackenstar's face grew angered. "So it was true then!" He snarled. You never loved me! You only wanted to become leader!"

"No, please – Brackenstar wait!" Silvertail shouted, "Please, I can explain! Things are different now!" He shook his head, turning to run.

Knowing that he would no doubt tell the clan what he thought had happened, she dashed after him, determined to tell him the truth. As he began to rush away, Silvertail swatted at him, yelling, "Listen to me!"

She landed a solid strike on his flank, and his back end gave in at a strange angle. His back legs slipped into the ravine, and he let out a surprised yelp. His claws unsheathed into the grass, and he clawed madly at the side of the drop. Seeing her mistake, Silvertail leapt over to him, trying to hold his paws in place and reaching around to secure a hold on his neck.

His eyes burning with fear and hatred, she still knew that with the proper angle, she could easily pull him up. But seeing him hanging over the edge, the jagged bottom sure to take each of his nine lives at once, a terrible streak of cruelty awoke in her. A thought driven by her ambition rose in her heart, and asked her a very important question.

Would it really be such a bad thing if he were to 'accidentally' fall and leave her as leader?

She had to ask herself… what did she value more? His quickly fading love? Or the ever-more appealing idea of being leader? She felt as her teeth loosened on his neck, and her paws inch away from him.

With a decisive step, she released him from her grip, and took a few steps back. "I'm sorry Brackenstar… I really did love you… But it's time to take the rank that should've been mine." Her voice grew sour at the end, tainted by moons upon moons of jealous ambition rising to the surface.

Confusion lighted his features as he scrambled for a hold. "What?"

"I was faster. _I_ was smarter. Who always won in battle training? _Me_! Who always brought the most prey? **_Me_**! But no… Featherstar had to pick **you**." She saw him slip a little more but quickly scramble for ahold. "I'll admit it… It didn't start as love, but I fell in love with you, the same way you did with me. It was real, Brackenstar."

"Silvertail, if it is as you say and you do love me, then in the name of Starclan, please! Help me back up!" He shouted, claws digging into the grass a little more and his gaze becoming frantic.

"You'll tell the clan. I'm sure of it." Silvertail stated quietly. "They'll kick me out of the clan and I'll never be the leader I was always supposed to be."

With a sudden burst of strength, he found his footing, and soon he stood on level ground again. "You would've let me die!" he shouted, a snarl forming on his lips. "Starclan willing, you'll never dare to show your face when I'm done with you Silvertail! And I know one thing for sure: A she-cat who lets her ambition consume her doesn't have any place in my clan, and she never will see the day her name bears the word 'star'."

Her eyes narrowed and her fur bristled. He would not stop her. No. Not when she was so close.

Rage filled her, and she threw herself at him, planting her front feet and swinging her backlegs out to hit him. This time, he went flying away from the edge, and disappeared into the gorge. A sickening sound of impact echoed back up to her, and she knew that even if he had only lost one life, no one would ever find him. The gorge had no known ways in or out… not counting the drop.

She was leader, but as soon as this dawned upon her, she realized that she had paid a high price. She began to tremor, and then broke down weeping, bringing her silver head into her paws and not daring to move.

After a few minutes of lying there, she finally picked herself up. Still shuddering, she knew that if she didn't play this off right, no one would ever believe it was an accident.

She bolted towards camp, arriving not long after. As she entered the camp, she gave a loud yowl, throwing her head back and waking nearly everyone in camp. Mistypath, Silvertail's half-sister and the clan medicine cat emerged from her den first, looking as if she'd just seen a dead cat begin walking again.

"Silvertail! What's wrong!?"

Panting, Silvertail sobbed, "It's Brackenstar… He…" She threw in a very real sniffle for effect. "He fell and…"

"Woah, Silvertail. Hold on. Start from the beginning." A warrior said, looking over Silvertail's shoulder and into the territory beyond.

With a hard swallow, she said, "We were out patrolling the border together, and went by the gorge… We were just walking when suddenly he slipped. I tried to hold him but…" She broke down sobbing again, knowing that these tears weren't entirely faked. "I tried to find a way down there but I couldn't…"

"Take us to him!" A group called. While unsure if she should, for fear some evidence there would point to her killing him, she knew it would be suspicious if she didn't.

"Follow me…" She said quietly before turning and dashed off with the four or five cats in tow.

They all arrived at the gorge as the sun peeked over the mountains.

Peering over the edge, she noted that Brackenstar's body was still there, mangled and broken at the bottom of the ravine. True to her plan, the fall had landed him on one of the jagged spikes at the bottom. All of his remaining lives were taken at once. It had worked perfectly.

She looked away, averting her eyes from his carcass. She knew she shouldn't be happy, and she wasn't… for the most part. She'd truly loved the tom… but with what he was going to do, she knew she had made the right decision. It was her destiny to become the leader, and with a bitter snarl, she told herself that if this was the price, it was well worth the reward.

Her shuddering soon vanished, but she was careful to keep up her role. After a while of searching the outer edges of the gorge, they all concluded that there was no way down to his body. The small group and Silvertail all gathered in a circle, and each sat in silence, in honor of their now dead leader. After a second, one of the other warriors, an orange tabby tom, stood and said, "It is a shame that his life ended like this. He was a strong leader. Silvertail, I can only hope you'll fill the void he leaves us with.

Silvertail nodded, turning away as she smirked silently to herself. _I'll be ten times the leader he was. _She thought to herself. _Better than any leader this clan has ever seen._

A few moons later, Silverstar lay far from camp, regarding her newborn kits with a hateful glint in her eye. Of the three, two resembled their father down to their markings and colorations. Down to their build. Down to the way she watched their every movement like a hawk. Seeing them crawl around helplessly, mewing loudly in protest as she stood, she could not disguise her revulsion towards them. When she'd first learned that she was pregnant with Brackenstar's kits, she had made Mistypath promise to not tell anyone of them, and now, to everyone else in the clan, these kits would never exist.

It infuriated her to see how much they resembled Brackenstar. She had loved him, but even the near sight of him made her very flesh begin to crawl. In a hate-filled rage, she prepared herself to kill her kits. She could not bear to see his face in theirs any longer.

However, even as her bared teeth moved to pick up the first kit and break its neck, a butterfly suddenly fluttered down, and hovered just above the first kit. Silverstar narrowed her eyes at the insect, but whenever she tried to pick up any of the kits, the light blue butterfly flew in front of them. Sure that this could only mean one thing, the silver tabby's eyes glared up at the silverpelt which she had once loved and growled, "Why, Starclan! Why must you punish me so!?"

Returning her gaze to the kits as the crawled nearer, she knew her only option was to take them back to camp. The butterfly must've been a sign from Starclan that these kits were not to be harmed, and the she-cat leader knew it could only be because of her methods of becoming leader. With a huff, Silverstar picked up her kits and began walking back to camp. It seemed, for now, there was nothing she could do about the little balls of fur. Unless….

She looked down to the bundles of fur in her grasp, and an idea came to her. _One, two, _three. She counted. _Plus me is four. Four cats of my family. Four clans in the forest. _A wicked grin spread across her features._ Starclan isn't punishing me… they've just shown me the future… Four cats to rule the four clans… Why should I be content with ruling just Stormclan? My kits shall grow to be the leaders of the other three clans… and then, what shall stop me from ruling the entire forest?_

"Mistypath." Silverstar said, slipping into the medicine den undetected by the others. The medicine cat looked up from her place organizing the herbs, and saw her leader standing there with the kits. Her eyes widened. With an ambition to swallow the forest, Silverstar said, "I need you to do me a favor…"


End file.
